Review: We’re the Millers… An Epic Comedy, Even Despite Jennifer Aniston

We’re the Millers is about a small-time drug dealer who gets caught up in a wacky situation. Said situation forces him to go to Mexico to smuggle a few tons of marijuana back into the U.S. Hijinks ensue. However, none of that is important. What is important is the fact that this movie is damn hilarious. So much so, in fact, that it rivals The Hangover—and is, in many cases, much smarter. I enjoyed the watch so much that I was even willing to overlook Jennifer Aniston’s legacy of mediocrity for a short time.

There’s no way to caption this without violating an obscenity law.
There’s no way to caption this without violating an obscenity law.

Fellow film buffs would instantly recognize the brilliant cast: Nick Offerman of Parks and Recreation, Karthyrn Hahn of Anchorman, Thomas Lennon and Ken Marino of… so many awesome things that I won’t even bother mentioning any of it, Luiz Guzman, Ed Helms… come on. And the lead members of the cast, some more well-known than others… all of them nailed their roles. Yes, even Jennifer Aniston. There, I said it. Whatever, man. Everyone gets lucky at least once.

One thing you can truly take away from this film is the fact that the gags don’t leave enough room in between to let the viewer recover. Constantly funny. Films like to try and shock their viewers—and this one is no exception—however, the degree of class and cleverness by which these “shock” scenes are delivered makes them work quite well, providing a much different watching experience than your average comedy. Yes, by the way, I am indeed fully aware of the fact that I just used the term “class” to describe something containing a scene where a dorky kid gets bit on his genitals by a tarantula and screams all kinds of creative obscenities that I can’t repeat here.

There were really only two downfalls to this film, one minor and one major. The minor one was the necessity to try and market the film based on “OMG, Jennifer Aniston as a stripper!’ It didn’t really do anything for anyone. But, no big deal.

The major flaw, however, is a terribly abrupt ending. It’s like eating through a whole box of Lucky Charms just to find out there’s no prize. Worse yet, it was one of those “moral of the story” endings, but nothing interesting was done with it. This is in serious contrast to the masterful way clichés were handled throughout the rest of the film. Sadly, this dud of an ending deducts serious points, and in my opinion could potentially keep it from becoming a classic. That said, don’t let this take away from my other comments. This is a world-class comedy and is absolutely money spent well.

By Johnny Beaver

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